Chinese New Year

Visitors to the town were entertained by several thrilling performances, including traditional Chinese lion performers, sensational ribbon and fan dancers, a magical mask changer and show-stopping stilt walkers.

There was also delicious Chinese food on offer from Wokabout, and the team from Sunrise Café within the Romford Shopping Hall also handed out free Chinese red New Year money envelopes to visitors, these were a way of sending good wishes to loved ones during New Year.

Havering Changing supported the event and had several free cultural and craft workshops for families to enjoy. There was live Guzheng music to entertain visitors throughout the day and calligraphy activities where people could be creative and could take their art home with them.

The event took place at the South Street end of Romford Market (near Lloyds Bank) and was completely free and was open to everyone to enjoy.

The Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival and Lunar New Year, is a huge festival among Chinese communities in London and across the world. It is based on the lunar and solar calendars, and the actual date of Chinese New Year varies each year. The Chinese calendar is represented by one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. This year Chinese New Year fell on Sunday, 22nd January, and it is the Year of the Rabbit.